Leffen
| Leffen | |
|---|---|
| William Hjelte | |
 Leffen facing off against Joseph "Mang0" Marquez in winners semi's of Apex 2015 | |
| Status | Active |
| Born | 16 October 1994 |
| Hometown | Stockholm |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Current team | Team SoloMid, Red Bull |
| Games |
Super Smash Bros. Melee Project M Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 |
| Championships |
B.E.A.S.T 5 Get On My Level 2016, HTC Throwdown CEO 2015 FC Smash 15XR: Return WTFox Super Smash Con |
| Nickname(s) |
L3ff3n Leffen |
| Professional career | |
| 2016-present | Red Bull |
| 2015-present | Team SoloMid |
William Hjelte (born 16 October 1994), better known as Leffen, is a Swedish gamer who primarily plays Super Smash Bros. Melee, in which he is a Fox main. In the Melee scene he is considered one of the dominant "Top 6" players, the others being Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney.[1] Leffen was the first player to beat all five of the aforementioned players in a tournament set, with the last player he beat being Mew2King at Apex 2015. Melee It On Me ranked Hjelte 3rd best in the world in the summer of 2015, a substantial improvement from 14th in the world in 2013 and 6th in 2014.[2]
Career
Hjelte started playing Super Smash Bros. in 2009, when he was introduced to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He initially started as a Yoshi and Falco player before switching to Fox.[3] Leffen feels that he made the gradual switch from Falco to Fox because he views Falco as requiring more discipline and Fox being more suited to his play style.[3]
He placed 9th in the Swedish national tournament B.E.A.S.T 2 within his first year of playing Melee.[4] Throughout 2014 Leffen began placing highly in tournaments and defeating the top five Melee players regularly. Prior to EVO 2014, Joe Cribari of Nintendo Enthusiast listed Leffen among the three "underdogs" with the greatest chance to win the tournament.[5] He finished 9-12th at EVO 2014.
In VGBootCamp's Apex 2015 Salty Suite, Hjelte defeated Kashan "Chillin" Khan in a first-to-five set without dropping a single game.[6] Because of this, Hjelte has the "rights" to use Fox's default color.[7][8] Joseph "Mango" Marquez subsequently challenged Hjelte to a US$1,000 money match if they were to face-off in the Apex Singles bracket. Hjelte would in turn beat Mango when they played in Winners' Semifinals.[8] After defeating Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman at Apex 2015 in singles bracket, Hjelte has taken at least one set off each of the "five gods" of Melee. Hjelte ultimately finished third in Apex 2015 Melee singles.[9]
On 9 March, Hjelte was signed by Team SoloMid as its first player on their Super Smash Bros. division, as well as their first fighting game player.[10] In the aftermath of his Apex 2015, Leffen is now viewed as being on par with the Melee gods.[3] The melee community often debates Leffen's exact title with regards to the Melee gods. Some say that due to his ability to beat all of the gods he is officially considered one of the gods, while others state that the term Melee God refers to players who were dominant for a period of time from 2008-2014 and that Leffen instead fits the title of Godslayer better. It is due to this division in the melee community that most analysts and commentators refer to the Melee Gods and Leffen as the Big Six, with Leffen being the person who officially ended the era of the gods. At CEO 2015 in Orlando, Florida, Leffen won his first American major, defeating Armada. He placed 5th at EVO 2015 later that year, despite being a favorite to win. He was upset by Panda Gaming's Justin "Plup" McGrath who played Samus.[11] Melee it on Me ranked Leffen as the 2nd best player in the world in their summer 2015 mid-season rankings.[12] Leffen was barred from entering the United States just before The Big House 5 tournament because he was travelling on a Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and employed by US-based Team SoloMid.[13]
On 16 February 2016 Leffen became sponsored by Red Bull as an official Red Bull Athlete.[14]
On 29 April 2016 Leffen announced that his Form I-129 petition to obtain a visa had been denied by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.[15] On 4 May 2016 it was initially announced that Team SoloMid was able to secure a P1 Visa for Leffen so he can be able to attend US-based tournaments throughout July which includes EVO 2016. TSM is working on extending this visa for the long term. [16] However, 14 July Leffen announced that he had run into additional delays in the visa approval process and would miss EVO.[17] Finally, on 3 October, Leffen's visa was approved, allowing him to compete in US-based tournaments again, in time for The Big House 6, a year after his deportation.[18]
Other games
Hjelte has competed in fighting games including Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and The King of Fighters XIII. In an interview with EventHubs prior to Apex 2015, he suggested he might play Guilty Gear Xrd on his Twitch stream after Apex 2015 concluded.[19]
Personal life
Hjelte's father is Korean-Swedish, who was adopted from South Korea and his mother is Swedish.[20] Despite this, Hjelte says his family does not regularly follow Korean cultural traditions.[20]
Leffen has stated his goal is not to just be the best Super Smash Bros player, but the best fighting game player.[21]
Controversy
Leffen is a controversial figure in the Super Smash Bros. scene, where he has been called a "villain" due to acts of bad sportsmanship, which has included insulting other players of the game and starting drama within online forums involving the game series.[1][22][23] He was banned from attending tournaments in Sweden and from SmashBoards for much of 2013 because of these reasons.[1] The accusations against Leffen were contained in a Zip file called "evidence.zip".[24]
Notable tournament placings
Melee
| Tournament[25] | Date | 1v1 Placement | 2v2 Placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.E.A.S.T | 7–9 January 2011 | 9th | 13th | AJP |
| GENESIS 2 | 15–17 July 2011 | 17th | 13th | AJP |
| B.E.A.S.T II | 10–14 August 2011 | 4th | 5th | AJP |
| Apex 2012 | 6–8 January 2012 | 33rd | 25th | Zoler |
| Epita Smash Arena 5 | 20–23 April 2012 | 5th | 2nd | Fuzzyness |
| Smashers' Reunion: Melee Grande | 13–15 July 2012 | 3rd | 2nd | Dr. PeePee |
| King Funk's Castle II: Måske | 4–7 October 2012 | 3rd | 2nd | Ice |
| Apex 2013 | 11–13 January 2013 | 17th | 5th | Ice |
| EVO 2013 | 12–14 July 2013 | 9th | 5th | Ice |
| Apex 2014 | 17–19 January 2014 | 4th | 9th | Dr. PeePee |
| B.E.A.S.T 4 | 12–16 February 2014 | 1st | 2nd | Ice |
| Republic of Fighters 3 | 17–18 May 2014 | 1st | 2nd | Fuzzyness |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | 20–22 June 2014 | 5th | 5th | Hax |
| EVO 2014 | 11–13 July 2014 | 9th | 3rd | Ice |
| COMEBACK I | 1–3 August 2014 | 2nd | 1st | Beat |
| Hit & Stun Tournament 2 | 6–7 September 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | Ice |
| The Big House 4 | 4–5 October 2014 | 3rd | 3rd | Hax |
| DrommeLAN 4.0 | 7–9 November 2014 | 2nd | 2nd | Ice |
| B.E.A.S.T 5 | 9–11 January 2015 | 1st | 2nd | Ice |
| Paragon 2015 | 17–18 January 2015 | 3rd | 3rd | MacD |
| Apex 2015 | 30 January – 1 February 2015 | 3rd | 3rd | Ice |
| I'm Not Yelling | 11–12 April 2015 | 3rd | 1st | MacD |
| Press Start | 9–10 May 2015 | 9th | 2nd | MacD |
| CEO 2015 | 26–28 June 2015 | 1st | 2nd | HungryBox |
| FC Smash 15XR: Return | 4–5 July 2015 | 1st | — | — |
| WTFox | 10–11 July 2015 | 1st | 2nd | Mango |
| EVO 2015 | 17–19 July 2015 | 5th | — | — |
| Super Smash Con | 6–9 August 2015 | 1st | 1st | MacD |
| PAX Prime 2015 | 28–30 August 2015 | 2nd | 1st | MacD |
| Paragon Los Angeles 2015 | 5–6 September 2015 | 5th | — | — |
| HTC Throwdown 2015 | 9 September 2015 | 1st | — | — |
| Eclipse | 14–15 November 2015 | 2nd | 2nd | Ice |
| DreamHack Winter 2015 | 26–28 November 2015 | 9th | 5th | Ice |
| The Come Up 2016 | 23 April 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo | 29 April – 1 May 2016 | 7th | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| Get On My Level 2016 | 20–22 May 2016 | 1st | 3rd | Hungrybox |
| DreamHack Summer 2016 | 18–19 June 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| The Big House 6 | 7–9 October 2016 | 17th | — | — |
| Smash Summit 3 | 3–6 November 2016 | 9th | 3rd | Mafia |
Project M
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 Placement | 2v2 Placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Funk's Castle II: Måske | 4–7 October 2012 | 2nd | 1st | Fuzzyness |
| Apex 2014 | 17–19 January 2014 | 9th | — | — |
| B.E.A.S.T 4 | 12–16 February 2014 | 3rd | — | — |
| COMEBACK I | 1–3 August 2014 | 2nd | — | — |
| Hit & Stun Tournament 2 | 6–7 September 2014 | 2nd | — | — |
| The Big House 4 | 4–5 October 2014 | 33rd | — | — |
| DrommeLAN 4.0 | 7–9 November 2014 | 2nd | — | — |
| B.E.A.S.T 5 | 9–11 January 2015 | 4th | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DrommeLAN 4.0 | 7–9 November 2014 | 1st | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.E.A.S.T 5 | 9–11 January 2015 | 3rd | — | — |
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
| Tournament | Date | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Fighters 3 | 19 May 2014 | 7th |
Ultra Street Fighter IV
| Tournament | Date | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| The Call of Ragnarok | 25–26 September 2015 | 13th |
References
- 1 2 3 Hernandez, Patricia (2 February 2015). "One Of The Best Smash Bros. Matches In History Went Down Last Night". Kotaku. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ↑ Lee, Daniel (18 December 2014). "Melee It On Me - SSBM Rank 2014 (6)". Melee It On Me. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- 1 2 3 Womack, Barrett (24 March 2015). "Friendlies: TSM Leffen, Smash's Loveable Villain". Red Bull. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ↑ Juggleguy (3 January 2012). "Melee in 2011: Year in Review". SmashBoards. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ↑ Cribari, Joe (10 July 2014). "Who Will Be Crowned Greatest Smash Player Alive at EVO 2014? "5 Gods" vs "3 Underdogs"". Nintendo Enthusiast. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ↑ VGBC's Salty Suite - Leffen (Fox) Vs. Liquid Chillin (Fox) SSBM - Super Smash Bros. Melee (YouTube) (Livestream). VGBootCamp. 4 February 2015. Event occurs at 4:37. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- ↑ Guerrero, John "Velociraptor" (1 February 2015). "Leffen and Chillin settle their Super Smash grudge in one of the most disrespectful first to five sets ever". EventHubs. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- 1 2 "$1,000 and America's pride on the line as Mango plays Leffen in winners semi finals at Apex 2015".
- ↑ Martin, Michael (2 February 2015). "Apex 2015 Fighting Game Tournament Roundup". IGN. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ↑ Walker, Ian "Iantothemax". "Team SoloMid Signs William "Leffen" Hjelte". Shoryuken. Shoryuken. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (20 July 2015). "Evo 2015: 12 great fights you shouldn't miss". Polygon. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ↑ Demers, Matt (1 October 2015). "Leffen denied entry to USA for Smash tournament". TheScore eSports. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ↑ Demers, Matt (1 October 2015). "Leffen denied entry to USA for Smash tournament". Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ↑ Womack, Barrett (16 February 2016). "How Leffen Will Take Over the World". Red Bull eSports.
- ↑ Tamburroby, Paul (29 April 2016). "ESPORTS PLAYER DENIED VISA AS "SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE IS NOT A LEGITIMATE SPORT"". CraveOnline. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ↑ "Leffen Visa Update". Team SoloMid. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- ↑ "Leffen to miss Evo, will not play or stream Melee until visa issues are resolved". 14 July 2016.
- ↑ "Leffen's Visa Approved". Shoyruken. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ↑ Taylor, Nicholas "MajinTenshinhan" (29 January 2015). "4 of the 5 Smash gods fell to his confidence and lack of fear - Leffen talks Apex, Smash 4, his mindset, Guilty Gear Xrd and more". EventHubs.
- 1 2 Shin, Jung (2 November 2014). "Interview with Leffen, Part 1". GGNOREAD. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ↑ Hjelte, William. "Meet TSM Leffen". Youtube. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
Event occurs at 3:09
- ↑ pitmonkey (17 June 2015). "Meet the players in the MLG Anaheim Smash Bros. Tournament". Major League Gaming blog. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ↑ Lee, Daniel (27 January 2015). "Evidence.zip". Melee It On Me. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ↑ Khan, Imad (10 March 2015). "Team SoloMid enters Smash Bros with Leffen pickup". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ↑ "Melee". SmashBoards. Retrieved 3 February 2015.